The official way to stop Riot Vanguard from running is to use its System Tray icon and choose Exit Vanguard ; Riot says it can then be re-enabled by restarting your computer, and VALORANT will not run until Vanguard is active again.

What you can do

  • Right-click the Riot Vanguard icon in the system tray and select Exit Vanguard.
  • If you want it to stop launching automatically, turn off its startup entry in Windows Startup apps or Task Manager startup items.
  • If you want it fully removed, uninstall Riot Vanguard from Add or remove programs, or use Riot’s uninstall steps if needed.

Important note

Disabling Vanguard will stop VALORANT from working until you restart and re- enable it, because Riot requires Vanguard to be active for the game to launch. Riot’s FAQ also says the system tray icon is the normal way to see whether Vanguard is running.

Avoid sketchy workarounds

Some forum posts and GitHub tools describe force-stopping services or using scripts to disable Vanguard more aggressively, but those are unofficial and may break the game or create stability issues. The safest approach is Riot’s own exit, startup, or uninstall method.

TL;DR

Use the tray icon to Exit Vanguard , or disable its Windows startup entry if you only want it to stay off until you choose otherwise. If you remove it entirely, you’ll need to reinstall or restart it before playing VALORANT again.

Would you like the exact Windows 10 or Windows 11 steps?